Improvement in producing illuminating-gas



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM ELMER, UF SEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN PRODUCING ILLUMINATING-GAS'.

Specification fonning part of Letters Patent No. 39,388, dated August 11, 1563; antedated May 13. 1561! T o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, \YtLLiAZ t Burma. )1. D..of the city. county,and Stateof Few York, have invented a new and useful improvement in the production of oletiant gas from w ater and naphthaor benzole, in conjunction with zinc; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the. same.

The nature of my invention consists in the production of pure oletiant gas, which consists of eighty-six of carbon to fourteen ot hydrogen.

The illuminating properties of a gas or a. mixture of gases depends upon the relation "which the carbon in it bears to the hydrogen. it is well known that ordinary coal-gas is not a definite compound of light or heavy carbides of hydrogen, nor olctiant gas, but a mechanical mixture of all of these substances with oily volatile products of very ditierent chemical character, of which substances some are not at all luminous, while others are only slightly so. It is also well known that oh-tiant gas is the principal constituent in coalgas, and the one to which the latter owes its illuminating-power. The gaseous mixture of coal-gas, atter the separation of the aqueous tiuid and the tar, consists of hydrogen. hihydride of carbon, oletiant gas. volat-iie hydrocarbon, henzole, carbonic oxide, sulphide of hydrogen, ammonia, carbonic acid, hi ulphide itt' carbon. nitrogen. kc. Some of these n0xions and useless impurities are separated before the gaseous mixture is used: but no means have heretofore been devised tor obtaining pure olctiant L'tts from coal. nor from any other substances from which it can be pt otwenty-three pounds of granulated line.

The retort is heated to a red heat previous to the introduction of the vapors and maintained at a high temperature during the operation of producing the gas. in this process the water and naphtha or henzole, whichever be used, are decomposed, the oxygen of the former uniting: with the zinc, forming an oxide with this metal. At the same time the hydrogennf the water is set free and the carbon of the henzole is brought into the nascent state, in which condition the liberated hydrogen in the retort instantly combines in the exact proportions with the carbon to form olcfiaut gas-C 11 or C, 1-1,.

The advantages arising from the manufacture of olefiant gas by this process are, tirst, in employing zinc. as before described, the oxide of this metal is i'ormed. which, as is well known. is valuable not. only as a paint, but for many other purposes, and will fully coinpensate for the whole cost of manufacturing 1 the gas, while the gas is pure, ati'ordingr a duced free from noxiousimpurities. and suff This 3 white flame of great brilliant-y. Again, the gas is not decomposed by heat, as is the case with the ordinary method-s oi'gas-manufacture, in wh-iclt'the oletiant gas produced in the process is kept too long under the etiects ot' a high degree of heat. w hereby it becomes more or less decomposed. and hence the most important or valuable part of the gas is lost; but

by this method the gases are set free the very instant the vapors come in contact with the heated zinc in the retort. The oletiant gas, as soon as it is formed, passes directly from the retort, and other vapors follow in like manner. so long as the supply is kept. up and the proper degree ot heat is maintained in the preheaterand retort. so that this method of prm ducing (defiant gas is a continuous process, and One oigreat ntiiity. I

l have described a convenient forulot apparatus for producing all the eti'ccts referred t-oin this specification in another application for improvements in the production of oletiant gas entered in the Patent Utiice on the same date as the entry of this application, though I do not confine myself to any [t'fllllclh lar form of apparatus.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-'- 1. The production of pure olefiant gas from beuzoie or naphtha and water, in coniuuction with zinc, bypreheating the formcrsubstailces, o as to form vapors, and bringing said vapors into contact with a certain quantity of metal- ]ic zinc heated to the rcquisitedcgrce, as herein set forth.

2. The continuous process in the nmnufucture of oicfia'ut gas, in which the gas is not decomposed. and the production of oxide of zinc by the decomposition of the vapors of water, as herein described. 

